Accessibility links

Planning and strategy

Tips and advice when planning ahead

This section provides tips and advice for business strategy.

An introduction to strategic planning

Key elements of strategic planning.

Avoiding traps in strategic planning

Strategy errors to avoid.

Building strategic alliances

How collaboration can benefit your business.

Finding your market niche

Capitalise on your corner of the marketplace.

How to survive when times get tough

Protect your business in a downturn.

Innovate to grow

The three basic skills behind innovation.

Make your planning meetings count

Tips for effective planning meetings.

No business is an island

Understanding your place in the chain.

Pricing strategies

Different approaches to setting a price.

Six reasons why business plans fail

Business planning traps to avoid.

Six steps to an effective business plan

Review your business planning.

Small is profitable

The advantages of being a small business.

Strategies for increasing revenue

Including the product/market matrix.

The right kind of growth

Is growth always healthy?

11 Sep 2025

Budget Board must focus on easing the cost of doing business, says IoD

The government's Budget Board must focus on easing the cost of doing business, says the Institute of Directors (IoD).

10 Sep 2025

Four million calls to HMRC unanswered every year, MPs told

MPs were recently told that four million calls to HMRC go unanswered each year, risking 'undermining compliance and the government's revenue targets'.

09 Sep 2025

Changes to 'sugar tax' could damage business confidence

UK soft drinks producers have warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will damage business confidence and have 'severe economic consequences for the industry'.